Musings from California

TGIF! Let’s celebrate with fresh pomegranate juice …

Earlier this week my mom dropped off a big bag of produce: apples and pomegranates from a friend’s backyard.

I’ve been looking at the pomegranates and contemplating various ways to use them. In the end the urge for a cocktail was overwhelming so I decided to juice these beautiful babies.

And while I appreciate the store bought varieties of pom juice, it can’t really compare to the brightness of fresh.

If you’ve never juiced pomegranate, it’s super easy.

Step 1: Peel the poms with a knife and break them in half in order to scrape out the juicy little seeds. Try to keep the pithy white parts to a minimum as they’ll be bitter. Be prepared for a bit of splatter. Jack walked through the kitchen while I was doing this and exclaimed, “Wow, it looks like you slaughtered something in here!” And it totally did.

The juice stained the cutting board but cleans up with bleach. (I wouldn’t juice wearing white. Don’t let it stop you, just be prepared and realize that you might get stained. It’s totally worth it.)

Step 2: Dump the seeds into a blender and add a little water, which helps facilitate the maceration. I had a little over two cups of seeds and added about 1/2 cup water. Feel free to adjust this ratio. I wanted a concentrated juice, so I didn’t add too much water.

Note: Taste your juice before you strain it and add a teaspoon of sugar or sweetener if needed.

Step 3: Blend until smooth and strain to remove the seeds and little bits of pith.

Now you have beautiful, fresh pomegranate juice that can be used as the basis for mocktails and cocktails, salad dressings and sauce. Easy, eh?

Three pomegranates yielded just under two cups of concentrated juice.

I don’t know about you, but celebrating the weekend with a pomegranate martini sounds divine.

Today, Jack and I are cooking up a feast to feed twenty-plus people at a family luncheon tomorrow. A little sustenance may be needed. I am in the midst of making a triple-layer rum coconut cake. Hand to sky. Help me, Lord. Please pray. (There’s a reason I don’t bake often.)

Post navigation

This is too funny because I was just about to google how to juice a pomegranate and I read your blog post! I was given one of these fruits last week and I want to juice it and add it to my cranberry-apple juice to give it some tartness. Thanks so much for this.